Shara of the Golden Hand
by Ponity
Summary: When Shara, a farm girl living on a ranch near Hobbiton, is devastated after the Nazgul kills her father, she thrists for vengeance- and discovers the secret of her past while doing so.


Hi all! This is my first fic, and I'm not very familiarized with the LOTR characters and places, so don't shoot me if my info is inaccurate.  
  
Disclaimer: Ponity does not own LOTR or any of the surrounding places and aspects. He does own, however Shara, Leonard, Dara, Rifwen, and Gonev.  
  
Yeah yeah, stupid disclaimer. Sometimes, I just want to stab you sixty three times in the back and throw you with a three-ton weight into the... Oh! Sorry! My violent side coming out. Anyway, enjoy!  
Ch. 1  
Comes the Nazgul  
Shara was a hafling living in the Shire. Her mother, an elf, had long since departed from the Grey Havens. She had startlingly beautiful long brown hair, and her blue eyes danced with the light of a young woman. At age 23, she lived with her human father on a small ranch just outside of Hobbiton.  
Presently, she was sitting on the creaky old rocking chair gazing at the golden rows of wheat swaying gently to and fro in the gentle mid- afternoon. She loved doing this and never tired of it. She was, as any normal folk might say, a daydreamer. But she was much more than that. Just watching the field made elaborate epics spring up in her mind: stories of dragons, and wicked sorcerers and the valiant knight that would come and rescue the fair maiden and win her heart. She had seriously considered putting some of these into writing, and she had started many. But no matter how hard she tried, she could never finish one.  
A voice called out and interrupted her thoughts. "Shara," her dad said. Shara got out of the chair and came inside their run-down but comfortable house.  
"I need you to run to the market and get me some fruit," Her father said. He was a hardened veteran, having fought in many wars. His bald head contained a few grizzled hairs, and his moustache and beard were so tangled it looked as if you could get lost in it. His name was Gonev.  
"Ok. Is it alright if I stay in Hobbiton for a while?" Shara asked.  
"Fine. But get Leonard to go with you so he can run back to me with the produce," Gonev said. Leonard was their servant.  
Leonard came bounding down the stairs, and as he hit the bottom step, tripped and fell flat on the hard wood floor.  
"Leonard, you klutz," Shara chided. "That hard head is going to put a hole in the floor."  
He stood up, chuckling. Leonard was a tall boy of Shara's age. He had extremely light, almost white hair, and mint-green eyes that sparkled like the stars at night. Adopting a face of mock hurt, he said, "I am truly offended. You put a dirty old floor before me, Leonard, the handsomest in all the land!"  
"Oh, go make love to an Uruk-hai," Shara joked.  
"Anyway, I heard my name," Leonard said. "Where shall I accompany your daughter?"  
"Just take her to Hobbiton. When she's through buying all of the things on this list," Gonev took out a piece of parchment with writing and gestured to it, "You will take the things back here and give them to me."  
"Sir, yes sir!" Leonard said, giving a dutiful salute.  
"Please, I've had enough of that to last me a lifetime," Gonev responded irritably.  
Upon arriving at Hobbiton, Shara went straight to the market. "Let's see, seven apples, four pears, twelve peaches, three pounds of blueberries, one and a half pounds of boysenberries... What's dad gonna make with this, a statue?"  
She bought all of the appropriate stuff and then even a dragon-tooth necklace to give to Leonard. She told nobody, but she harbored feelings for him-deep feelings.  
A sharp tug on the hem of her dress made her spin around, and there was a tiny little hobbit with curly hair and a visage that was the very picture of innocence.  
"Rifwen, you little troublemaker!" she said, mock-lecturing him. "You should know better than to pull on Shara's dress!"  
"Nono, me notta doo that! Thats be mista Lennard!" he said, pointing to Leonard.  
"What?" he said, shrugging. "I didn't do anything!"  
"Alright, which one of you little orc feces pulled my dress?"  
Rifwen gasped. "Shara say naughty word! She should get a spankin!" He ran off, yelling "Orc faces! Orc faces!"  
"The little rat," Shara said to herself. "I'll get him back..."  
"By the way," said Leonard, "It was Rifwen that pulled your dress."  
"I know," she responded indignantly.  
Leonard kept his facial expression nondescript, but inwardly he was beaming, glad that he had gotten away with his little prank.  
"Here, I've bought everything," Shara said, handing Leonard the basket of fruit. He staggered momentarily, caught off-guard by its immense weight. He walked away, back toward the farm.  
A few minutes later, Shara was walking through the living area of Hobbiton, intending to go to meet her best friend, Dara.  
The air took a turn for the eerie when it suddenly became very cold, even though it was the middle of summer. An ear-splitting screech rent the air, and Shara looked up to see the largest, most ferocious bird in her life. Is it a bird? She thought to herself.  
An arm flashed out from the nearest cottage and pulled Shara inside. She found herself looking into the face of Alder, the town friar.  
"Friar, what is it?" she asked.  
"My dear, there is too little time for explanation, but I will tell you this: That is the Nazgul, the most evil creature in all the land. What business it has here I do not know," responded the Friar. He was a short, portly hobbit, even for one of his race and age.  
At that moment, right when Shara started to move away from the window, an arrow whizzed through one and buried itself in the Friar's chest. He was dead before he hit the ground.  
Shara screamed, partly in fear, and partly because she had just been standing there.  
She heard the flapping of mighty wings as it sped northern- toward the ranch, Shara realized in horror. I have to go warn dad!  
Shara had been running for how long, she didn't know. It had taken them about half an hour to get to Hobbiton from the ranch, and she was roughly halfway there in the space of eight minutes. Slowly, ever slowly, she felt her endurance beginning to fade. Almost there, almost there, she kept convincing herself. Eventually she tripped on the hem of her dress and looked up into Leonard's face He was bleeding in a few places and bruised in others. His white hair was spotted with dust and grit.  
"Shara- came from ranch- whole thing destroyed..." he panted.  
"And my father?" she asked. Leonard's faced turned grave. "What happened to my father?"  
"Shara... Your father's dead." 


End file.
